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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. rash — hasty
  3. chair — a leader
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. pit — in a race
  6. mark — a grade
  7. mark — a trace
  8. row — to paddle
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. mine — for digging
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. net — after costs
  15. pit — a hole
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. net — for catching
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. rash — a series
  20. net — in sport
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. row — a line
  24. chair — to sit on

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com